Keep Calm and Insert Coin: Shut the *#@! UP!!!!

I actually had a colleague read the first three blogs I did and she asked, “How are you remembering such childish things?” I told her that they were exciting times in my life that are triggered when recently exposed to them again. She didn’t understand. I asked where she first kissed her husband. She knew. Where she had her first beer. She remembered. Where she first let someone get to second base. She wouldn’t answer that one, but she understood the point.

So what about the first time I played Q-bert. I clearly remember where but fuzzy on the date. Showbiz Pizza, “where a kid could be a kid.” Yup, another pizza joint. And at the time, it was a great place to play the video games. Except now, it’s all about ticket redemption and cheap prizes. Would you still believe I have the 80’s thin lined glasses that make you look like Devo in my basement? Oh, and now its Chucky Cheese if you weren’t keeping tabs.

But the lineup of the games were really awkward. It went Pac-Man, Tron, Dragon’s Lair and then Q-Bert. Such a tiny machine setup next to those other monsters. But I do remember thinking the same thing about Q-Bert that I said about Pac-Man, no jump or fire button? Are these video game companies having financial problems that they can’t afford buttons? (That’s me talking now, not then).

The problem was, when I played this game, and unfortunately to this day it still happens, I have this Pac-Man mentality with the controller. I try to do the same up, down, left, right moves as Pac-Man. But instead the control goes diagonal. And to top it off, it had a 3-Dish element that made it confusing from time to time. But in the end it was still fun. I can only get to level 4 or 5. But now it is just more of a nostalgic purpose to play it.

But the strongest part of the memory of this game was dying. I unfortunately remember this clearly. My dad was standing next to me and watching me play and then Q-Bert got hit on the head and started talking and then @#!*%. He was trying to hear it and asked what he said. I said that he got hit on the head and said *#Q!. Sorry, I am keeping my language clean for the blogs. But I sure didn’t that day. It was the mother of all words. Let’s just say that.

My dad grabbed my arm and yanked it so hard I thought it was going to fall off. He pulled me out of the arcade area and got my mom and told her and then we left. But I only lost one guy, I had two more. Yeah, I should have thought a little more about the priorities that day.

So the day was over, I had my mouth washed out with soap, which I don’t recommend trying Zest. And I was also grounded for 2 weeks….*#@! But i guess that’s just another reason that I will keep it in my memory banks and head back to the arcade and….

Brad has been a die hard arcade fan ever since he can remember. From the first time he played Space Invaders, to the first time he played Pacman, Brad has always had a love for video games. Hanging out at either the Great American Fun Factory in the mall, or spending the night in front of the glowing games at the local roller rink, he was always thinking about when he can spend the next quarter.
He also worked at Babbages, which is now GameStop, for over six years. Mostly because they had a really sweet checkout policy on new products and great discounts. But since he had the Atari 2600, he has never looked back and owned some of the greatest home machines, NES, SNES, GENESIS, Turbo Graphix 16, GameBoy, Game Gear, Lynx, Playsation 1,2,3,4 and Vita, XBOX, Gamecube, and N64...just to name a few.
Brad is also a reviewer for Mobile Beat Magazine as well as a freelance videographer, part time disc jockey, performing artist and photographer. But has a true love is for video games and Star Wars, as he is a member of the 501st Central Garrison.
His ultimate dream is to own a fully working pinball machine and arcade machine. Difficult to say which one, but a Star Wars one would be nice start.